Automotive vehicle



C. S.' ASH AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE Filed April l, 19.40 `4r Shefets-Sheel'. l

N Nr R A ATTORNEY s. ASH 2,298,334 AUTOMOTIVE; VEHICLE Y' Filed April 1, -1940 4 sheets-sheet '3- Oct.v 1'3, 1942. c, s, ASH

' AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE Filed April 1`, 1940 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 EWE Paienied oci. 13,1942

,e UNITE-D STATI-:s P'A'rlirsrry 4orricl: `A

2,298,334 l AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE charles s.Ash,Mi1fora,Mich. l Application April 1, 194o,seiia1 No. 327,094 2 claims. (c1. 18o-22) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in automotive road vehicles.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and Vcombinations pointed out in the appended claims,

l ment of the present invention; i

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation cf the rear of the vehicle-shown in Figure 1; l

. .Figure 3 is a detailed fragmentary, side elevation, partly in' section, of driven wheel structure and mounting in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken onthe line L 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figures 5 and 6 are sectional views taken on the lines 5 5 and 6 6 of Figure 4;

The present invention has for its object Vthe provision of a novel and improved heavy duty automotive road vehiclehaving improved load distribution. The invention also'provides an eicient lroad vehicle for carrying relatively compact and heavy loads which hasa. relatively low center of gravity and in which thefront and rear axles `of the vehicle may be substantially equally loaded. The invention further provides a heavyduty road vehicle particularly adapted'for transporting relatively largev quantities of hazardous materials suchas gasoline with an unusually high degree of safety and. economy.

In accordance with the present invention, illustratively shown as applied to a gasoline tank truck,the vehicle comprises a tank or other vehlcle body, which may serve as oney of the principal frame members, and with independently mounted and sprung dualwheels at the front and y rear of the vehicle and at each side thereof. Preferably, the dual rear wheels of the vehicle are each driven and the dual wheels at the front 'of the vehicle are dirigible, .and the vehicle motor is located well towards the front of the vehicle, its position beingso located with reference to the tank that when the tank is loaded the front and rear dual Wheels will be substantially `equally loaded.

It will be understood that the foregoing general description and the folle-wing detailed descripLion as well, are exemplary and'explanatory of the invention but are not restrictive thereof.

Referring now in detail to the illustrative embodiment ofthe present invention as shown in" the accompanying drawings, the vehicle comprises a combined tank and frame I0 to the under part of which are attached parallel longitudinally extending channel frame members II, and-at the front of which is mounted a vehicle motor I2. At the forward end the vehicle is provided with independently rotatable dual wheels I5, I6, I'I and I8 which may be of the general f orm and construction as shown in my prior Patent No.

1,979,598, or of the form shown in my copendlng` application Ser. No. 270,757, now Patent No. 2,264,785, issued Dec. 2, 1941. At the rear of the vehicle are provided two pairs of independently rotatable'driven dualwheels 20, 2I, 22 and 23, I I each pair being individually driven and individually spring mounted on the vehicle. Motor I2 is arranged to drive the dual Wheels at either side of the rear of the vehiclethrough spaced apart, parallel, rearwardly extending, propeller shafts 25, 26, and at the rear of motor I2 is provided a conventional clutch I3 and a change speed and differential gear box I4. Laterally extending from the gearbox Il are the differentially driven shafts 28, 29 which drive shafts 25 and 26 through beveled gears 30 and 3I, thereby clearing -t'he central longitudinal portion of the vehicle so that th tank may be lowered as close as desired to theground.

' Figures 3 and4 of the drawings showin detail the construction and mounting of the' rear dual wheels, only one set of which will be described as they are substantially duplicates of each other. A stub axle 32 extends laterally toene side ofthe vehicle and on its outer end is provided the tapered rcller bearings 33, 34 which sup-l port the hub sleeve 35 and are held in place by means of the washer 36, bearing nut'3I- and the brake anchor and drive supporting casting.

The outer surface of the hub sleeve 35 is finished as a cylinder and on it are supported. the 'wheel hub 40 for the ouler wheel 22, and the wheel hub 4I for the inner wheel 23, suitable journal bearings being provided between these wheel hubs 40 and 4I and the hub sleeve 35 so as to 'permit the wheels to have independent or relative rotation. Brake drum 44 is bolted to the brake drum attaching flange 45 formed integrally with and at the inner end of the hub sleeve 35, this brake drum substantially filling the space within the inner wheel rim. Thrust washers 46 and 41 are provided at the ends of the wheel hubs and the wheel hubs are held against axial movement by means of the brake attaching flange 45 and the threaded collar 46.

Each of the stub axles 32 is independently mounted on the truck frame or chassis on its own side of the vehicle, and for this purpose, stub axle 32 is formed integrally with a vertical bracket 50 in which is rigidly secured a vertical guide rod 52, bracket 50 being formed with two relatively heavy spaced apart lugs 53 and 54 which are apertured to `receive the guide rod 52. Bracket 50 is also formed on its upper side with a spring pad surface 56, to which may be clamped the semieliptical leaf springs 60 the U-bolts 6| which pass through the small lugs 62 formed .in iront of and to the rear of the spring pad surface 56. In order to permit the guide rod 52 of the stub axle 32 to move only in a vertical direction, guide rod 52 passes through suitably journalled apertures in lugs 63 and 64 which project from and are a part of the bracket 65 attached to the vehicle tank and frame I by means of the screws 66.

Vehicle supporting springs 60 also serve to limit the movement of the wheels and stub axle 32 so that it has only vertical movement, and for this purpose the forward and rear ends of the springs 60 are connected to suitable shackles or other spring mountings 68 projecting laterally from the channel frames and connected thereto, and these mountings `63 tendA to keep the stub axle 32 from pivoting about the shaft 52 in addition to supporting the. weight of the vehicle.

Means areprovided for differentially driving each of the rear vehicle wheels, and for this purpose the hubs 40 and 4| of the wheels are provided with adjacent annular recesses in which are i'ltted ring gears 10 and 1| ilxed to the wheell hubs by means of the pins 12 and meshing with the planetary beveled pinions 14 which are freely rotatable on studs 16 projecting radially from the spider.' 11 which is securely bolted to-the hub sleeve 35 by means of cap screws 18. The adjacent faces of the hubs 40 and 4| are preferably surfaced to form a bearing against the side faces of the spider 11 near the hub sleeve 35, and are provided with contacting faces 19 which retain lubricant within and prevent the ventry of dirt into the space occupied by the gears 10, 1| and 14.

The brake'and drive supporting casting 38 is provided with a downwardly and inwardly extending portion 80 in which are retained bearings 8|, 82 rotatably supporting the short shaft 83, at the outerend of which is provided a drive pinion 9|, keyed to shaft 63 and in drivingmesh with ring gear 90. At the inner end of sh'aft 83 is a-bevel gear A84 meshing with bevel gear 85 carried at the rear end of shaft 26 and enclosed within alubricant retaining housing 86, this housing being sealed with respect to shaft |24 mounted on the side of frame member while link |2| is tapered and provided at its end with a threaded portion and nut |25 so that it may b secured within a similarly tapered hole in bracket 50 immediately beneath the spring pad 56. A spring |23' may be positioned between the outer nut |23 and the bracket |24 to permit a short sliding movement of the radius rod |28. This radius rod allows free vertical movement of the wheel assembly at the same time resisting any torsional action about shaft 52 as a pivot.

Mounting bracket portion 63 is preferably positioned between the bracket portions 53 and 54, and short sections of relatively stiff helical springs |30 and |3| are'preferably provided about guide rod 52 and between bracket portion 54 and the bracket portions 63 and 64 so as to provide additional springing in case the wheels tend to bottom the spring 60 or in case of excessive rebound. y

Attached to the inner edge of the brake drum 44 is an internal ring gear 90, meshing with and driven by pinion 8| keyed to the outer end of shaft 83 so that the drive is applied from shaft 83 to gear 80, brake drum 44, hub sleeve 35, to

are carried by the brake and drive supporting 83 by journal 81 and also formingv the seat for a thrust bearing 88 between gear 84 and the outer end of housing 86.

In order to steady the wheels 22 and 23 as driving or braking torque is applied to them, a radius rod |20 is provided pivotally connected at its ends to links |2I and |22. Link |22 is casting 38 and contact with the outer and inner portions respectively of the ring gear 90.

Means are provided for braking the wheels of the vehicle and as shown in Figures 4 and 6 comprise two pairs of arcuate brake shoes |00. |0| mountedrwithin the brake drum 44 and pivotally supported on the shafts |02 which are mounted in lugs |03 formed integrally with the brake anchor casting 38. Shoes |00 and |0| are normally held in retracted position by means of spring |06 and are expanded into braking position by means of a conventional cam |01 and brake actuating arm |08. Brake anchor casting 38 is secured to the spindle 32 against movement by means of the cap screws ||0 and as the brakes are applied drum 44 is retarded and the braking force is applied to hub sleeve 35, diiierential pinion 14, ring gears 10 and 1| so as to apply an equal braking force to thetwo wheels 22 and 23. Y

Means are provided for retaining lubricant on the bearings 33 and 34 and for preventing the lubricant leaking into the brake mechanism. For this purpose, a sealing ring is provided between the outer end of the brake anchor casting 38 and the inner face of bearing 34, and anothersealing ring ||2 is provided on the outside vof bearing 33 and is retained in, place by the washer 36'.

Any suitable form of tire mounting rims may be used and these arev secured to their respective wheels by 'any suitable means such as the lugs ||4 and ||5 Y The invention not only provides a vehicle having an extremely low center of gravity with the load substantially evenly distributed between the front and rear wheels, but also provides a vehicle which has an unusualiy high degree of safe- 'ty as a sudden blowout or other failure will not seriously impair the manuverabiity of the vehicle. Also, the independent suspension of the dual wheels tends to produce a vehicle which is more stable in its road characteristics, and

threaded and secured by nuts |23 to a bracket 75 this feature. together with the use of the dual spring extending at right angles to the axle bevention and without sacrificing its chief advantages. i

What I claim ls:

1. In a motor vehicle, a pair of dual wheels, a relatively short axle, a driving member rotatable about the axle and on which the wheels are `supported in spaced-apart relation for relative rotation, dii'erential gearing interconnecting the wheels and driving member for driving the wheels from the driving member, a brake member` attached to the driving member, means for driving the brake member to drive the kdriving member and wheels, and means for connecting the ,axle to a vehicle at the inner end of the axle including a vertical guide for the axle, a leaf ing the axle and vehicle and resisting vertical.

tween the vertical guide and wheels and connectmovement of the axle and a radius rod extending at right angles to the axle and interconnecting the axle and vehicle whereby only vertical movement of the axle is permitted.

2. In a motor vehicle, a pair of dual wheels, a relatively short axle, a driving member` `rotatable about the axle and on whichA the wheels are supported in spaced-apart relation for relative r0- tation, differential gearing inter-connecting the wheels Iand driving member for driving the wheels from the driving member, a brake member attached to the driving member, means for driving the brake member to drive the driving member and Wheels, and means for connecting the` axle to a vehicle at the inner end of the axle including springs connecting the axle and vehicle and resisting vertical movement of the axle and ya radius rod extending at right angles to the axle and interconnecting the axle and vehicle whereby only vertical movement of the axle is permitted.

CHARLES S. ASH.- 

